Rockets vs. Spurs Betting Line – January 27
Carrie Stroup here with your Rockets vs. Spurs betting line for Wednesday night San Antonio -10. Total: 209.
HOUSTON ROCKETS (25-22) at SAN ANTONIO SPURS (38-7)
The Rockets will be going for their fourth straight victory when they face the Spurs in San Antonio on Wednesday.
Houston is playing some solid basketball recently and is coming off of a 112-111 victory as a four-point underdog in New Orleans on Monday. The Rockets have now won three straight games both SU and ATS. One thing the team is doing is keeping the turnovers down. The Rockets have not turned the ball over more than 14 times in each of their past six games.
San Antonio was embarrassed in their meeting with the Warriors at Oracle Arena on Monday. San Antonio was a 4.5-point road underdog in that game and ended up losing 120-90.The team turned the ball over 25 times and shot just 41.9% from the field, the lowest mark the team has hit over the past 18 games.
Houston has played well against San Antonio in recent years, going 6-4 SU and 7-3 ATS versus the team over the past three seasons. These teams have met twice this season and each team won-and-covered when playing at home. The Rockets are 18-8 ATS when revenging a loss where their opponent scored 110 or more points in their most recent meeting over the past two seasons. The Spurs, however, are 21-7 ATS after having won four or five of their past five games this season.
The Rockets have won three straight games and will now be going for their second win of the season over a very talented Spurs team. If Houston is going to come away with a win on Wednesday then SG James Harden (27.7 PPG, 7.0 APG, 6.3 RPG, 1.5 SPG) will need to play extremely well. He has not performed well against San Antonio this season (18.5 PPG in two meetings), but he is on fire coming into this game. Harden is averaging 28.2 PPG, 10.2 RPG and 9.6 APG over the past five contests and is doing so on 47.1% shooting from the field and 43.2% shooting from the outside. He should be able to carry some of that momentum into this game and find ways to score the basketball.
Another guy that Houston will be hoping can stay hot is SF Trevor Ariza (12.3 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.8 SPG). Ariza is averaging 30.0 PPG over the past two contests and was 22-for-31 from the field in those games. He has been lights out from three recently, going 19-for-32 from the outside over the past three contests. Ariza is a very solid defender and if he can continue to hit shots then it will take a lot of pressure off of Harden moving forward.
The health of C Dwight Howard (14.4 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 1.6 BPG) is a big factor in this one. Howard had 36 points and 26 rebounds in his last game before getting hurt against Detroit and had been dominant for the Rockets in the weeks before. If he is on the court then Houston will have a great chance to steal a win against a Duncan-less Spurs team.
The Spurs are coming off of a brutal loss to the Warriors on Monday and PF LaMarcus Aldridge (15.6 PPG, 8.7 RPG) was awful in that game. Aldridge played 25 minutes and finished with just five points and three boards on 2-for-9 shooting from the field. San Antonio needs Aldridge to be better offensively and he should be able to turn things around against the Rockets. He is averaging 21.0 PPG and 9.0 RPG on 57.6% shooting from the field in two games against Houston and could be even more dominant if Howard ends up sitting this one out.
SF Kawhi Leonard (20.0 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 1.9 SPG) has also played well against the Rockets this season, averaging 21.0 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 2.5 SPG and 1.5 BPG in two meetings with the team. Leonard has played excellent defense against James Harden when called upon and should be able to find some success on Wednesday. He was one of the few Spurs that wasn’t taken out of the game by Golden State on Monday, as he finished with 16 points, five boards and two steals on 4-for-6 shooting from the field and 7-for-7 shooting from the charity stripe.
The x-factor in this game could just be PG Tony Parker (12.5 PPG, 5.0 APG). Parker has been absolutely horrendous in two meetings with the Rockets this season, averaging just 2.0 PPG on 1-for-13 shooting from the field. He will need to knock down some shots for his team or it will be tough for San Antonio to win this one.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
